Odell Beckham Jr. Suspended for Hit on Josh Norman: Latest Comments and Reaction

The NFL confirmed Monday it suspended wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. for one game for his helmet-to-helmet hit on cornerback Josh Norman during the Carolina Panthers' 38-35 win over the New York Giants on Sunday.  

The league also elaborated on the decision in a statement:

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Beckham was penalized three times for unnecessary roughness, including a late helmet-to-helmet hit against a defenseless player in which Beckham left his feet prior to contact to spring forward and upward into his opponent, lowered his helmet and initiated forcible contact with his helmet, and forcibly struck the defenseless player's head. This "blindside block" was particularly flagrant because Beckham, with a 10-yard running start, had an unobstructed path to his opponent, the position of the opponent was not impacted by any other player, and the contact with the head/neck was avoidable.

The suspension was imposed by NFL Vice President of Football Operations Merton Hanks. Hanks ruled that Beckham's actions placed his opponents at unnecessary risk of injury and should have been avoided.

In a letter to Beckham, Hanks noted, "At numerous times during yesterday's game against the Carolina Panthers, your actions placed a fellow player at unnecessary risk...and clearly did not represent the high standards of sportsmanship expected."

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After Beckham's appeal hearing on Wednesday, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the ruling was upheld.

Beckham and Norman are among the best players at their respective positions, so Sunday's matchup made for great theater. But the two engaged in several altercations before Beckham's emotions got the better of him in the third quarter.

On a run by Shane Vereen, the Giants wideout came back to the play and launched himself at the Panthers defensive back. The play occurs at the 1:49 mark of the video below:

According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, the NFL thought Beckham's actions—including other dust-ups with Norman—warranted an ejection.

After the game, Beckham declined to comment on his matchup with Norman, telling reporters, "It's unfortunate we lost":

Norman, on the other hand, wasn't afraid to speak his mind, per ESPN.com's Ohm Youngmisuk and David Newton:

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I hope the league office gets a chance to review the film and see what they can do, because players like that don't deserve to be in the game. I mean, it's ridiculous. ...

You going to get out here, and you're going to dance around and prance around like you're a ballerina, that goes to show you. When you cut back layers, you see. Everybody saw that live on national TV. There's nothing that I can show that he hasn't already been exposed.

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Giants head coach Tom Coughlin acknowledged he considered removing Beckham from the game but said he kept him in to use the situation as a learning experience, per Jordan Raanan of NJ Advance Media: "He's got to learn at some point how to deal with some things on the field. ... Again, he's a player on our team, and he made some mistakes today, but I'm hoping he will recognize that and get over it."

With the NFL's heightened emphasis on player safety, punishment for the Pro Bowl wideout quickly became part of the discussion after the game. The MMQB's Peter King was among those who called for at least a one-game suspension:

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If this blow happened by accident, you'd have seen it and thought, Norman might be concussed on that hit. But that was no accident. This was the kind of Brandon Meriweather brutality that has no place in football—and would have had no place even in the bad old days when there wasn't such a focus on eliminating the helmet-to-helmet blows. "He came 15 yards down the field and just went straight for my head," Norman said. "It was just crazy."

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Some may question whether Beckham's hit on Norman warranted such a stern rebuke from the NFL, but NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah noted the play was merely one of a handful in which Beckham crossed the line:

Beckham's suspension comes at a terrible time for the Giants, who are still in the playoff hunt despite their 6-8 record. New York is a game back of the Washington Redskins for the NFC East lead and tied for second place with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Beckham is the Giants' most dynamic offensive playmaker. His 1,396 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns account for more than a third of Eli Manning's 3,900 passing yards and 32 touchdowns. Without Beckham, New York will be much less dangerous with Rueben Randle as its No. 1 wideout.

The Giants will visit Minnesota to play the Vikings in Week 16, and a loss in that game will eliminate them from postseason contention.